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Kamakura

Been living in Japan for many moons now but was my first time to take walkies around Kamakura.

Kamakura is located about 50km South West of Tokyo in the Kanagawa prefecture.
The Kamakura area is a popular tourist spot for foreigners and Japanese alike and is popular for the large number of Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines - some built 1200 years ago.
A full list of temples and shrines at the end of the Wikipedia entry.

One of my first memories of Japan was the rail crossing. I remember saying to a bunch of my Japanese friends by a crossing one day - "you are so lucky to live in Japan!"
They would laugh each time at that remark.

The Origins of Kamakura’s Hasedera Temple According to legend, in 721 AD the pious monk Tokudo Shonin discovered a large camphor tree in the mountain forests near the village of Hase in the Nara region. He realized the trunk of the tree was so large that it provided enough material for carving two statues of the eleven-headed Kannon.

The statue he commissioned to be carved from the lower part of the truck was enshrined in Hasedera Temple near Nara; the statue from the upper half (actually the larger of the two) was thrown into the sea with a prayer that it would reappear to save the people.

Fifteen years later in 736 on the night of June 18, it washed ashore at Nagai Beach on the Miura Peninsula not far from Kamakura, sending out rays of light as it did. The statue was then brought to Kamakura and a temple was constructed to honor it.

Since time immemorial, Hasedera Temple has been known as the 4th station among the 33 holy places in the Kanto area.

Photos of the Kannon were forbidden so I didn't get any. Small pic at the Hasedera Temple site.

Today there seemed to be a school trip. The interesting thing about Japanese school trips is that the students have to wear their uniform. Dont know the exact reason but presuming its easier for the teachers to keep tabs on the students and prevent outsiders from mingling into their coach or something.

The Great Buddha of Kamakura is a monumental outdoor bronze statue of Amitābha Buddha in the Kōtoku-in Temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.

It is believed that the statue was originally cast in 1252, following an idea by the priest Joko, who also collected donations to build it. The sculptors were One-Goroemon and Tanji-Hisatomo.

The statue is approximately 13.35m tall and weighs approximately 93 tons. The statue is hollow, and visitors can view the interior for a mere 20 Yen a person.

The Great Buddha was originally housed in a temple, but this was washed away by a tsunami in 1498.
Since then the statue has stood in the open air. Repairs were carried out in 1960-1961, when the neck was strengthened and measures were taken to protect it from earthquakes.

While religion does not play a major role in everyday life, the Japanese do carry out religious rituals at birth, weddings, funerals, laying foundations for a building and at shrines or temples whenever they visit one.

At Kamakura, you will see folks lighting up incense, washing their hands at the entrance of the temple and making the throw-coin-clap-once prayer.
Do you practice any form of religion?